What’s the Big Deal?

I really try not to get involved in what people might call “pop culture”. But when it comes to basic issues of morals and decency, I can’t help but say something.

Our country and the world as a whole has moved in the opposite direction of God for a long time. Political Correctness is the “god” of the hour, it seems, and the less people you offend the better. Unless, of course, you happen to offend Christians or other religious people. Then it’s okay. Because we’re the hate mongers that don’t like women, children, puppies, freedom, fun, or long walks on the beach.

Yup, I’m going to say it – Miley Cyrus.

I voiced my opinion about her…ehm…well, how do you put it…escapade on the VMA’s to someone recently and was met with “Oh what’s the big deal, she’s a 20 year old girl”. I have seen similar postings on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other places online, as well.

Many people seem to think that this is just normal for a girl her age. That all girls get to be 20 and suddenly go romping around in nude-colored underwear making pornographic gestures with older men and foam stadium gear. She’s “expressing herself”, she’s “finding herself”, she’s “making a statement”.

Well I agree with you there. She is certainly making a statement. But it is a big deal.

See, Miley is not just your average girl. She’s a girl that lots of other young girls look up to, and have for years, you know – from back when she was wearing clothes. She’s a role model, and for a long time, she used to be a good one. Girls knew that it was okay to make mistakes, but when they did, it was good to fess up. That it was okay to have a good relationship with your family. That decency was something you didn’t have to be ashamed of.

Was Hannah Montana ever the spitting image of perfection, no, of course not. But at least there were some “take home” messages that girls could relate to, learn from, and that promoted a positive image.

Unfortunately, it’s really likely that these same girls have grown up along with Miley, still looking to her as a role model. And now what do they see?

Aside from that, the general consensus that it’s normal and okay for a 20 year old girl to be making very sexual, very public displays such as those that were seen at the VMA’s is completely horrifying. Our nation’s moral compass is spinning in circles and pointing nowhere – it isn’t just pointing in the wrong direction, it’s completely gone.

What happened to the days when we encouraged young girls to stand up for morality? What happened to the message we used to send young girls that said “You are more than your body, you’re a person, and don’t settle for those who want to make you an object”? Why are we so willingly buying into the sex culture that has been reaching a younger and younger demographic?

Where does it end? And where is childhood going?

It seems that the girls growing up in this day and age are being sent a message: “Grow up quick, get sexy, and flaunt it because that’s what makes you beautiful”

What a sad message.

And I’m not letting Robin Thicke off the hook, either. I love how society has very willingly pushed him aside as though he was the poor innocent bystander in all of this. Have you listened to the words of the song?

I’m not going to repeat them here, but you can look them up. You can’t tell me he just parachuted in and didn’t have any idea what she was going to do. It’s called rehearsal.

So let’s just recap this, shall we? A 20 year old girl in an outfit meant to make it look as though she’s naked is making pornographic (albeit awkward) dance moves around an older man, gyrating while he sings about blurred lines?

Yeah. That’s a great message.

So what’s the big deal? The big deal is that this is what young girls see and look up to, and it’s what they think the norm is, and if they’re also on Facebook they are reading from many grown adults that this, in fact, is the norm, so they aren’t even being discouraged by many adults from this type of behavior anymore.

The big deal is that girls are growing up to believe that who they are is what they look like and how much skin they show and that if they’re single, maybe it’s because they don’t put out or aren’t sexual enough.

The big deal is that girls are being led away from God. Period. And men, too. Boys see this and can’t understand why girls who do happen to keep their moral compass intact are so upset when they are aggressive.

It’s a sex culture that started in movies for grown adults and has been thrust upon a generation and demographic that is way too young to be handling adult issues.

From a Christian perspective, there are about a million things wrong with this and the big deal is obvious. But even if you aren’t religious at all, do you really want your daughter to grow up believing that if she isn’t acting like that she’s not normal? That somehow she is defined by her body and what she’s willing to give up and if she’s willing to give it up before her friends?

And if you think it’s ridiculous for me to make the connection between a VMA performance and that type of belief, I assure you it’s not.

The media helps to raise the younger generations more than most people realize, and if there is no opposition saying no, kids, you don’t have to be like that, that isn’t how you’re expected to act, and anyone who does expect you to act like that isn’t worth your time, what else are they led to believe?

We are all of us responsible for the downfall of our youth if they fall into the trap of this sex-crazed culture and we say or do nothing to stop it.

This is my two cents. It’s time to start teaching young boys to value and respect young women. It’s time to teach young women to respect themselves. It’s time to teach an entire generation that relationships are about more than sex. And it’s time to start acting like adults again, because half of the time the comments I see from adults are just as immature as the teenagers’. It’s time to stop being afraid that if we stand up for morals and the formula for relationships that God designed we’ll be persecuted for it. It should be expected that we will be persecuted for it. But so be it.

I pray for Miley Cyrus. I honestly do. When I look at her antics, I see a lost soul that has fallen very far from where she used to be and who needs God in a big way. I’m not bashing her. I’m genuinely concerned for her as a person. But I’m also genuinely concerned for the girls who look up to her and think well…I guess that’s what growing up looks like. I guess that’s what I’m supposed to do next.

It’s a sad state when an entire society looks at a spectacle like the VMA performances seen recently and says “Yeah, kids should be free to be sexually expressive, what’s the big deal?”

It is a big deal. It’s a very big deal. And I just hope that there are enough people willing to stand up and say “That is not what defines you, that is not what you should be, and that is not what makes you beautiful” to influence those in the younger generations still willing to hear it.

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For perhaps slightly different reasons I agree with you. If the message is accepted by the public then how can ‘they’ cry out in horror at the abuse, degradation and rape which occurs far too often?
A secondary comment is that she looks to be trying (crying) for attention…. Madonna did it, Aguilera, lady Gaga, but is it necessary?
I agree about people having lost their moral compass…. Perhaps they should think how they would feel if their child was behaving like that.

I completely agree with you. So many in society encourage this kind of “performance”, and then wonder why certain crimes go up and ponder about things that are so clearly a result of this culture that is, for whatever reason, encouraged so much of the time. And I think if more people would answer the “What if it was your daughter?” question, maybe they would start seeing the problem. Thanks for the input! I think you’re spot on.